Oil platform owner sued over deadly blast in Gulf

Commercial vessels extinguish a platform fire on board West Delta 32 approximately 20 miles offshore Grand Isle, La., in the Gulf of Mexico. First responders medevaced nine of the platform's 22 personnel to nearby rigs.

NEW ORLEANS -

Relatives of two victims of a deadly explosion on an oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico are suing the platform's owner and operator.

The bodies of Corporal and another worker, Jerome Malagapo, were recovered from the Gulf after the Nov. 16 explosion. A third worker, Avelino Tajonera, was critically burned and died at a hospital a week after the blast.

The suit claims oil vapors ignited when workers cut into a pipe connected to tanks that should have been depressurized and purged before any construction work on the lines.

Lawyers for Corporal's widow also sued Black Elk Energy last month on behalf of Tajonera's widow.

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